Christmas Is Cancelled. Aurelia Rowl B.

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СКАЧАТЬ him jump when she’d lunged for her bag. Set free, the black makeup streaks had grown tentacles and were manoeuvring haphazardly across his chest, trying to camouflage themselves in the smattering of dark hair visible all the way down to the shot of dark fuzz disappearing beneath his waistband.

      Tilly couldn’t tear her gaze away from the shirt becoming more and more see-through as each second passed. She prayed her skin hadn’t turned pink as a result of her hot flush – talk about a dead giveaway – and her mouth grew so dry she had trouble swallowing, let alone talking but she had to try. ‘Thank you,’ she squeaked, trying to stop her fingers from shaking. She plucked the phone from Dean’s outstretched hand, being extra careful not to touch him. ‘I won’t be long.’

      ***

      ‘Take all the time you need.’ Dean fixed a smile on his face then made his exit. He’d reached the last stair before Tilly spoke into the phone.

      ‘Hi, Phil, you won’t believe this,’ she said ruefully. Dean froze on the spot, gripped by fear at the thought of her mentioning him. ‘Yeah, problems on the line apparently. They don’t know when it will be fixed but said it’s likely to be a few days.’

      He let out a sigh of relief.

      Torn between eavesdropping or giving her the privacy he’d promised, Dean forced his feet to climb the last step then faltered. Battle raged inside his brain but his conscience eventually won out. He crossed the landing to his room and sat on the edge of his bed, fiddling with the knot in his tie. If Tilly was supposed to be on a train to Phil’s, that at least explained the suitcase. It didn’t explain her odd behaviour though.

      Admittedly she’d always had a crazy streak and a bit of a temper, but she wasn’t usually so erratic. Meek one minute and full of fire the next, Dean got the impression she was trying to be someone else and constantly fighting against her true nature. She’d accused him of going through some sort of makeover, but it was a wonder he’d even recognised her.

      When he’d flicked on the house lights, he’d been too stunned to speak and had frantically searched for something to do to buy some time to get his head around the dulled-down version of the girl he once knew better than himself. Dyed brown hair, dark, drab suit… the difference disturbed him. What had happened to the flame red hair? The colourful clothes? Had she had a personality transplant in the years since she’d left home?

      Dean sighed and let his head fall into his hands. He could try and psychoanalyse her all he liked, but she wasn’t the only one behaving erratically tonight. Sat beside him on the sofa with her head back and her eyes closed; he’d been spellbound. His pulse stuttered just thinking about how close he’d come to leaning across and stealing a kiss. And the look in her eyes just now, stood there with her skin flushed and her breathing ragged, betraying her attraction to him… Christ, it was a wonder he hadn’t jumped her right there and then.

      Time had let him down. He was just as attracted to Tilly now as he’d ever been. Nobody else had come close to making him feel the same way in all the years since, which was pathetic since he’d never even kissed her – their close encounter outside the train station definitely didn’t count – and their relationship, for want of a better word, had always been purely platonic. Mostly because he hadn’t let anything happen between them but heaven knows how he’d managed to keep his hands off her for so long.

      Over ten years since had passed since he’d promised Phil to leave his little sister alone. More to get Phil off his back than anything but Phil wouldn’t have let it drop. After months of being ground down, Dean had eventually allowed himself to been brainwashed that it was for Tilly’s own sake, so she could get over her ‘silly teenage crush’.

      It didn’t feel like a teenage crush at the time, though. Tilly had been a very mature teenager for a start, and he’d been twenty-one. He’d had feelings for her, too, yet he’d made the promise anyway out of loyalty to his only friend, plus there was the fact that big brother always seemed to be watching.

       Phil isn’t here now though…

      ‘Shit.’ Dean jerked upright then crossed to the window to draw the curtains. What he needed now was a shower to clear his head and it might not be a bad idea to make it a cold one. He quickly undressed, discarding his clothes on the window seat, then wandered to the bathroom.

      Tilly’s voice floated up the stairs, not clear enough for him to make out the actual words. Whether it was for the best or not that he couldn’t hear her, Dean still couldn’t decide. He tried to tune it out yet he knew the exact moment the call ended because the house became eerily quiet.

      As if a starter gun had gone off, he shut off the water and jumped out of the shower, leaving a trail of footprints in his dash back to the bedroom. His jeans snagged on his wet legs and he cursed, finally getting them done up before pulling a top over his head. He left the bedroom and padded quietly down the stairs.

      His pulse spiked at the sight of her stood in front of the window, deep in thought with a frown creasing her forehead, to the extent he forgot all about the creaky step. The sound echoed in the silence and Tilly whipped her head round to look at him, spearing him with eyes so vivid he could see how green they were from the other side of the room. They were wet too. She’d either been crying again or was just about to start.

      ‘All done?’ he asked.

      ‘Yes, thanks.’

      ‘Phil okay?’

      ‘Yeah, the usual. You know Phil…’

      Dean didn’t bother to tell her they weren’t in touch any more. After Tilly had left, they’d drifted apart making him wonder if she’d been the only thing keeping them together. ‘Were you meant to be staying with him for Christmas?’

      ‘It’s fine, he wants me to go down for New Year instead,’ she said with a shrug, not really answering his question. She broke eye contact first and pointed out of the window. ‘Are those hills over there?’

      Smooth subject change… not. ‘Yep.’

      ‘But we’re only just outside Manchester?’

      ‘I know. Great, isn’t it?’ Dean joined her at the window. ‘Welcome to the Peak District. You should see the views in daylight.’

      Tilly turned away, keeping her back to him. ‘So how come you’re working up here anyway? I thought you hated the north.’

      ‘It’s a long story.’

      ‘Well, there’s one and a half bottles of wine left over here.’ To plead her case, she crossed the room to top up her glass then spun around to face him and waved the open bottle in her hand.

      Dean gulped; he’d never been a religious man but he prayed to every saint he could think of for assistance. Whether she’d undone her blouse on purpose or whether the buttons had come apart when she’d tried to dry herself off was neither here nor there. Either way, his eyes feasted on the sight of Tilly, standing before him with her top gaping open.

      The plunging neckline offered him a perfect view of her ample breasts, concealed only by a sheer pink bra with delicate green buds threaded throughout. At odds with the rest of her outfit, it offered the first sign that the real Tilly was still in there somewhere, lurking beneath the sombre facade.

      ‘And it’s not like I have anywhere else to go,’ she continued in such a nonchalant, matter-of-fact tone that he СКАЧАТЬ